For The Greater Good?
by SchroedingersKneazle
Summary: Aberforth confronts Albus about neglecting his sister. A three-way duel breaks out between him, Albus and Gellert.


„Stupefy!"

"Reducto!"

"Incendio!"

"Protego!"

Albus and Gellert were firing jinxed at each other in rapid succession. It was a miracle that they hadn't blown up the Dumbledores' attic yet. Well, not exactly a miracle, as Albus had strengthened the structure of the building with various protective enchantments. Still, the two most powerful young wizards in the world had to take care not to blow up the house.

"Impedimenta!"

"Crus Frangit!" Gellert yelled. Albus narrowly avoided the leg-breaking curse.

"Stupefy!" he responded.

In that moment, a younger boy opened the door. Albus' stunning spell hit him right in the face as Gellert dodged it.

They interrupted their duel. Albus went over to his younger brother.

"Renervate!" he said, and Aberforth awoke.

"You do realize that it is not smart to blindly walk into a duel?" Albus asked annoyed. "So what did you want?

"Bloody hell Albus!" Aberforth shouted at him. "You shouldn't even be duelling here. How often do I have to tell you that it upsets Ariana? But you don't care about her, right? You only care about your glory, about this hallows nonsense and about your so-called Greater Good!"

"Your sister will have to get used to it." Gellert said coldly.

"She will have to get used to nothing!" Aberforth shouted. "This is my house, and if a noisy intruder keeps upsetting her, I'll throw him out."

"This is not your house. Albus is the elder brother, and he invited me here. So you will have to tolerate my presence." Gellert responded.

"Albus, could you at least see some sense and move your stupid duelling sessions somewhere else! I don't care if you make idiotic plans for world domination, but not where it upsets our sister!" Aberforth shouted.

"Aberforth, don't you see we're doing this for her as well?" Albus asked. "Once we have overthrown the statute of secrecy, there will be no need any more for her to stay hidden."

"Oh shut up Albus!" Aberforth roared. "This was never about Ariana! You're lying to yourself in order to keep a good conscience."

Gellert pointed his wand at Aberforth.

"You will stop insulting Albus at once! He's a greater wizard than you will ever be! Your simple mind doesn't understand the greatness of our plans. We're doing it _for the Greater Good._ "

Aberforth pulled out his own wand. "It was all fine before you turned up! I know it was hard for Albus, but he was coping with the situation and doing his best, but then you came and infested his mind with dreams of world domination and the so-called Deathly Hallows!"

"Aberforth, I warn you!" Gellert growled.

"No! I will no longer tolerate your disturbances!" Aberforth said, raising his wand.

Albus stepped between them. He knew that his brother was no match for Gellert.

"Step aside Albus." Aberforth said. "You'll have to choose between me and him."

Albus stayed where he was, but Aberforth and Gellert both made a step to the left and began duelling.

"Stupefy!" Aberforth shot at Gellert.

Gellert dodged the curse, and replied with the bone-breaking curse he had tried earlier against Albus.

"Protego!" Aberforth shouted, and to Albus' amazement, his brother was strong enough to block the curse, even if it still threw him three meters backwards against the wall.

Aberforth struggled back on his feet, raising his wand once again. He realized that Gellert, instead of taking the chance to finish him off, was staring at Albus, who was still watching the duel without interfering.

"Secatus!" Aberforth yelled at Gellert. Grindelwald paid dearly for his distraction, as a long cut appeared on his left arm. But still, his wand arm was uninjured, and the bleeding was too weak to impair him seriously.

Gellert howled in pain, and aimed at Aberforth again. "Crucio!" he shouted.

Aberforth was screaming in pain. He had heard the curse described as the feeling of knives carving into your body, but it was more than that. Like being cut, punched, stabbed and squeezed, all at the same time.

But as fast as it had begun, the pain was over. He saw Albus and Gellert now duelling fiercely. He had never seen anything like it. They were firing curses faster than he could ever have imagined. He realized Gellert had merely played with him in their duel.

Still, he tried to support his brother as good as he could, distracting Gellert with stunning spells or stinging hexes.

Then suddenly, the door opened behind Aberforth. To his horror, he saw Ariana slowly walking into the room. She was trembling, and tears were running down her face. "Stop it!" she cried. "Stop the fighting!"

Albus and Gellert stopped indeed. Albus stared into the eyes of his sister. Gellert and Aberforth did the same.

Aberforth and Albus knew what was coming. Albus suddenly had fear in his eyes, a fear that had not been there during the duel. He and Aberforth knew that Ariana was going to explode any moment.

Ariana, had she been in better health, could have become just as powerful as her eldest brother. The power was still there, but she didn't have the ability to control it.

In a huge shockwave, the three duellists were thrown backwards against the wall.

It was Aberforth who got to his feet first. He wanted to get near Ariana to calm her down. But he never got to her. Gellert was standing again as well, and had his wand raised at Ariana. Aberforth turned around, facing him once more.

And then, Gellert began to speak the killing curse. Avada-

Before he could finish, Aberforth and Albus both aimed the same curse at Gellert. But before either wizard had spoken the curse, another shockwave of magic caught them, hurling them into the air. Three flashes of green light shot through the room.

The three boys slammed to ceiling, then to the wall and collapsed on the ground. In the middle of the room, Ariana was lying.

Dead.

It was unable to tell which of the three killing curses had hit her. Maybe it even was her own outburst of magic that had been fatal.

Aberforth burst out in furious cries. Albus just kept lying on the ground, sobbing. Gellert ran away.

"Coward! Murderous coward!" Aberforth cried after him as he ran away, never to be seen in Godric's Hollow again.

 **Written for The Potions Class Challenge/Competition: Calming Draught -** **Write about someone experience something painful, either physical or psychological.**


End file.
